Coal Use Declining, Environment Still Suffering!
Question: What are the lasting environmental impacts, specifically pollution and deforestation, of coal mining on current day Appalachia?
Appalachia is one of the oldest and most biologically diverse mountain systems in North America. Unfortunately, mountaintop removal mining has led to the destruction of over 500 mountains surrounding over 1 million acres of Appalachia. For my final project, I would like to research the environmental impacts of coal mining in Appalachia; more specifically, the lasting effects of pollution and deforestation that coaling mining has had on the region. This relates to my professional practice because this summer I will be interning for Fannie Mae as a business analyst on the sustainability team.
Many people think of coal mining as a dying industry. While it is true that coal production in the Appalachian region has fallen almost 45 percent from 2005 to 2015, it has still had lasting impacts on the environment. Approximately 70 percent of coal comes from strip mines. During the last 20 years an increasing amount of coal comes from mountaintop removal sites. Mountaintop removal mining leads to alterations of habitats and deforestation, resulting in displacement or loss of species. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that in 2012, mountaintop removal had destroyed 1.4 million acres of Appalachian forest. This deforestation and loss of habitats causes mass loss and displacement of species. A study claims that widespread deforestation in southern Appalachia could change the region from a net carbon sink to a net carbon source by 2025 to 2033. A sink absorbs a greater amount of carbon than it gives off, while a source releases more than it absorbs.
Appalachia has lost around 2,000 miles of streams to mountaintop removal mining. Selenium concentrations are elevated in streams due to close proximity to coal mining sites, reaching concentrations that have toxic effects in plants, fish, birds, and other wildlife dependent on the water from streams. A 2014 study by the US Geological Survey showed that fish populations downstream of mountaintop removal mining sites were reduced by two-thirds between 1999 and 2011 due to loss of appropriate habitat and pollution. This study shows how decades of coal mining has had a lasting effect on the environment. Another study showed that polluted streams averaged about half as many species of salamander, and far fewer individual salamanders, as the undisturbed streams. Across 11 disturbed streams, just 97 salamanders were found by researchers, a drastic difference to the 807 salamanders found in 12 control streams. This shows the effects of pollution caused by coal mining in just the last five years.
It is clear that the environment is still suffering from coal mining today through the examples I’ve provided. In the United States, 100 tons of coal are extracted every two seconds. However, there is still potential for things to get worse. Recently the House of Representatives used the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to dismantle the Stream Protection Rule (SPR), which protects clean water for communities living near mining sites. SPR gives the people in living near coal mining sites vital information about toxic water pollution caused by the nearby coal mining. By the removal of the SPR, it is clear that coal industry profits are being put before public health.
Coal mining need to be put to a stop. It had proven to be unsustainably harmful to the environment. Coal mining should be replaced with more eco-friendly removable energies. Also, an initiative should be established to help restore all the damage that it has had on the environment. Hopefully overtime time with treatment of steams and replanting of trees, the environmental can help be improved, and species will recover.
For my creative element I went to a local healthy stream about 30 minutes away from Blacksburg and took pictures. I have cropped these picutures I took side by side with pictures of streams polluted by coal mining so you can better compare the two. This shows how drastic if effects of coal mining can be visually.
Annotations
Conniff, Richard. “Sacrificing Wildlife for Big Coal in Appalachia.” TakePart, 31 Oct. 2014, www.takepart.com/article/2014/10/31/sacrificing-wildlife-big-coal-appalachia.
This article discusses how mountaintop removal mining is affecting wildlife in Appalachia. Specifically, the article looks into how the pollution of streams has impacted salamanders. Coal companies will dump mountain debris in streams, caused them to become “overburdened” streams. Researchers from the University of Kentucky found that streams that had been affected by coal mining had half as many species of salamanders and far fewer individual salamanders as the undisturbed streams. The coal mining companies can get away with this because of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977. Mountaintop removal mining has been going on for almost 40 years and has destroyed 450,000 acres of Appalachian land without must care for the wildlife that has been suffering.
“Ecological Impacts of Mountaintop Removal.” Appalachian Voices, appvoices.org/end-mountaintop-removal/ecology/.
This source starts off by saying what makes Appalachia unique, its biologically diverse mountain region. Unfortunately, coal mining is making the region suffer. Then, the article starts to discuss how coal mining has affected the water in Appalachia. The US environmental protection agency estimates that mounting top removal have buried more than 2,000 miles of streams in Appalachia. This has also caused changes in water quality that can lead to the death or disruption of life cycles to many aquatic species. Appalachian Voices and The Alliance for Appalachia and others have advocated for the full protection of the Clean Water Act on Appalachia’s streams.
The article also explains how Forests have been affected by coal mining in Appalachia. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that 1.4 million acres of Appalachian forest were destroyed in 2012 due to mountaintop removal mining. After the mountaintop removal process is done, the remaining soil in unable to produce native hardwood forest. Animals that have been particularly affected by coal mining are birds, fish, and other salamanders. All of these species populations in Appalachia have been greatly reduced because of coal mining activities.
Huba, Stephen. “New Report Assesses Impact of Coal Mining’s Decline on Appalachia.” TribLIVE.com, 26 Jan. 2018, www.triblive.com/local/regional/13228054-74/new-report-assesses-impact-of-coal-minings-decline-on-appalachia.
This source is a news report that evaluates the effects of the decline of coal mining in Appalachia. The study found that nearly 45 percent of coal production had fallen in the Appalachian region between 2005 and 2015. The report also looks into the effects of coal production decline on supply-chain industries, transportation, economics, and human capital.
“Mountaintop Removal in Appalachia.” Southern Environmental Law Center, www.southernenvironment.org/cases-and-projects/mountaintop-coal-mining-in-appalachia.
This source focuses on educating the reader on the stream buffer zone rule. This rule has been in place since 1977 and prohibits surface coal mining operations within 100 feet of a stream unless certain conditions are met and certain steps toward protection are taken. In 2015, the Obama administration proposed a new rule called the “stream protection rule” that would provide additional protects to downstream waters, but ultimately would weaken the stream buffer requirement.
“Mountaintop-Removal Mining Is Devastating Appalachia, but Residents Are Fighting Back.” Grist, Orion Magazine, 17 Feb. 2006, www.grist.org/article/reece/.
This article starts off by explaining how coal mining is very much at large in the Appalachian region, and how it is engraved into their culture. It goes on to discuss job unemployment and possible health problems in children due to coal mining. It says that an Eastern Kentucky University study found that children in a local county suffer from higher rates of nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, and shortness of breath. The article goes on to discuss the history of coal mining, specifically how the poor were kept scared and powerless. The article concludes by stating that Appalachia’s current situation would never happen in New England, Californian, or Florida. The mainstream media seems to have little interest in the problems in Appalachia.
“Surface Coal Mining in Appalachia.” Environmental Protection Agency, www.epa.gov/sc-mining/basic-information-about-surface-coal-mining-appalachia#impacts.
This sources is a general informational article put out by the Environmental Protection Agency to educate people on surface coal mining in Appalachia. The article starts off by explaining the coal mining include mountaintop removal, contour, area, high wall, and auger mining. It also lists the places where coal mining is most common. Then it outlines the five basic steps to coal mining including rock and dirt removal, coal excavation, regrading, and revegetation.
The article continues by going over the environmental impacts of coal mining. Specifically, the five principal alterations of stream ecosystems: loss of streams, major chemical concentrations, degraded water quality, selenium concentrations, and degradation of aquatic life.
Valentine, Katie. “Scientists Have Now Quantified Mountaintop Removal Mining’s Destruction Of Appalachia.” ThinkProgress, 11 Feb. 2016, www.thinkprogress.org/scientists-have-now-quantified-mountaintop-removal-minings-destruction-of-appalachia-101971e1465c/.
This article focuses on the altered landscape and deforestation in Appalachia caused by mountaintop removal mining. According to a study done by Duke University, mountaintop removal mining made some regions in Appalachia 40 percent flatter. The article compares the physical effects of mountaintop removal to volcanic eruptions. The article ends by discussing health and safety requirements for coal mining regarding streams.
